Corps: Dam Work Lessens Seattle-area Flood Chance

GEORGE TIBBITS

AUBURN, Wash. (AP) — Hurried repairs this summer at the Howard Hanson Dam have lessened the chances the Green River will flood this winter, the Army Corps of Engineers said Thursday.

Corps spokeswoman Patricia Graesser in Seattle would not say by how much the odds were improved, saying details would come at a midday news conference.

Previously, the corps has said there was a 1-in-4 chance that a flood would inundate the heavily developed Green River Valley downstream. The corps has been working around the clock to prevent flooding, pumping tons of grout into the problem area, an abutment at the dam that was badly weakened by a torrential storm last winter.

Residents, businesses and local governments in the long, flat valley south of Seattle have been working feverishly to fortify their property and the levees along the winding river against a potentially catastrophic flood during the winter rainy season.

In recent weeks, some 40 miles of levees have been raised with sandbags, evacuation routes and emergency warning systems have been set up, and residents have been urged to assemble "go kits" — documents, medicine and other valuables they'll need if forced to flee on short notice.